Schumer wants to pass gun reform bills after Texas school shooting

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledged Wednesday to renew his efforts to pass stricter U.S. gun-control laws, but acknowledged that Republicans will likely block new firearm regulations even after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at a Texas elementary school.

Schumer, the chamber’s top Democrat, implored his Republican colleagues to resist the influence of the National Rifle Association, a powerful pro-gun lobbying group, and join Democrats to discuss what measures Congress could pass to reduce mass shootings.

“Please, please, please, damn it, put yourself in the shoes of these parents for once,” the New York lawmaker said from the Senate floor a day after the teenage gunman killed 21 people in Uvalde, Texas.

“Maybe that thought — putting yourself in the shoes of these parents instead of the arms of the NRA — might let you wriggle free from the vise-like grip of the NRA,” Schumer added, “might free you to act on even a simple measure.”

As the U.S. shares its collective horror over the mass killing of children, the Senate appears unlikely to pass gun-safety legislation before lawmakers leave for a Memorial Day recess. Schumer noted that many Democrats want him to quickly take up a House-passed background check bill, but conceded that Republicans would likely block the legislation — as they have with similar measures in the past.

Democrats have long blamed the NRA, its millions-strong membership and significant financing, for swaying Republicans against gun policy changes.

The majority leader, echoing Tuesday comments by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., disparaged Republicans who argue that the best way to stop mass shootings is to focus more on mental health than the availability of guns.

“Rates of mental illness are more or less the same across the developed world,” Schumer said. “The U.S. is not an outlier on mental illness.”

“But we are an outlier in the sheer number of guns available in this country,” he added. “That is why we have so many shootings and other Western countries don’t.”

The NRA did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

The Texas shooting and a string of other gun massacres have reengaged Democrats to pass stricter gun-safety rules. President Joe Biden in an emotional speech Tuesday also called on Republicans to resist the firearms industry’s influence to help curb gun violence.

The White House, asked if Biden has made plans to visit Uvalde, declined to offer details. CNN reported that the administration is “in the early stages” of planning a presidential visit to Texas.

At the end of his remarks, Schumer said that the Senate on Thursday will consider a bill that the House passed earlier this month, days after a separate mass shooting in Buffalo, New York, left 10 people dead. The gunman targeted shoppers at a grocery store…